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March 24, 2020
6:00pm
Beaumont Health Foundation
COVID-19: How you can help
Dear friends of Beaumont Health,
I am writing to update you on what is happening at Beaumont during this difficult time and what is being done to assist patients as well as the thousands of physicians, nurses and other caregivers on the front lines of this COVID-19 pandemic.
But first let me say that as a friend of Beaumont, you already have helped make a profound difference. Your support has given Beaumont a strong base from which to address this crisis, something for which I am personally most grateful. However, we are reaching out to you again at a most critical time in health care. We need your support now more than ever to address this pandemic and the patients it is impacting in your community.
Right now, as you’re likely aware, Beaumont is providing COVID-19 care in the following ways:
- Conducting curbside screenings that allow people to drive up to the hospital, talk with a clinician and receive a COVID-19 test, if appropriate. Note: everyone does not need to be tested for COVID-19.
- The Beaumont lab is now able to process hundreds COVID-19 tests onsite at the Royal Oak campus, which allows us to get results faster than solely relying on state and private labs. Watch this video to learn more about how Beaumont laboratories are processesing tests.
- Over the past week, more than 8,000 patients have been tested for COVID-19.
- More than 800 Beaumont patients have tested positive for COVID-19.
- As of 4 p.m., March 24, approximately 450 confirmed COVID-19 patients are hospitalized and receiving care within the Beaumont system.
- Beaumont launched a Coronavirus hotline staffed by Beaumont nurses and employees to help patients evaluate their symptoms and determine whether they need to seek medical attention. Since its launch on March 12, Beaumont has answered 36,000 calls.
- Beaumont launched an online risk assessment tool to help patients better understand whether they need to seek medical attention for their COVID-19 symptoms. Since its launch on March 18, more than 60,000 people have taken the assessment.
As you can imagine with all of this activity to date, Beaumont is sorely in need of medical equipment to ensure the best care possible for our patients and to protect our physicians, nurses and other staff. This equipment includes:
- Ventilators, to help COVID-19 patients breathe until strong enough to do so on their own
- Personal protective equipment, to protect caregivers and healthy patients from infection and transmission of the virus
- N95 respirators
- Goggles
- Masks and face shields
- Gowns
- Gloves
- iPads, to expand telemedicine capabilities for caregivers to communicate with patients in a safe and effective manner during this difficult time
Meeting these equipment needs will require donations from multiple sources including cash and in-kind gifts. If you can help, here’s how:
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